Asia has some of the best cities bar scene anywhere in the world, and the continent is gaining ground on New York and London faster than most Western drinkers realise. Our editors have spent considerable time in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Osaka, and Bangkok over the past two years, and the quality of what is coming out of East and Southeast Asia right now is not a trend. It is a permanent shift. Here is where to go, and which bars prove it.
1. Tokyo — The Most Serious Bar City on Earth
Tokyo's bar scene operates according to a philosophy that does not exist anywhere else. Precision, hospitality, and the complete absence of ego. A bartender in Ginza who has been making the same four cocktails for 30 years is not boring. He is a master, and his four cocktails are better than anything you will order elsewhere this year. Tokyo wins the best cities bar scene Asia ranking because it does not just have great bars. It has a culture that makes great bars inevitable.
01
Bar High Five
Ginza
$$$$
Classic / Precision
Hidetsugu Ueno is one of the finest bartenders alive and Bar High Five is his room. The classics here are executed with a level of precision that will reset your expectations for what a well-made drink means. Eight seats. You will wait months for a reservation. It is worth every moment of the wait.
Order: Martini or Gimlet. Let the classics show you what they can be.
02
Kasa
Shibuya
$$$
Natural Wine / Modern
The newer Tokyo bar scene is built around natural wine, sake, and fermented spirits in a way no other city has committed to. Kasa in Shibuya sits at the front of this movement with a list that reads like a geography lesson and a room that is worth the hunt to find it. No signage. Ring the bell on the third floor.
Order: Whatever low-intervention bottle the sommelier is excited about that week
The full Tokyo bar guide
Every category covered in depth. Our Tokyo guide includes cocktail bars, craft beer, hidden gems, and the best late-night spots across 9 neighbourhoods.
Explore Tokyo
2. Singapore — Asia's Most Polished Bar Scene
Singapore punches well above its size. The city has produced three bars in the World's 50 Best list in the past five years, and the standard of hospitality across the scene is unlike anywhere else in the region. It is more expensive than the rest of Southeast Asia. It is worth it.
03
Jigger and Pony
Tanjong Pagar
$$$
Upscale / Occasion
Named Asia's best bar several times over, Jigger and Pony earns its reputation through consistency rather than novelty. The menu runs deep on classics and a thoughtful selection of Asian-influenced originals. The room is handsome and the service is Singapore-level attentive, which means better than almost anywhere else.
Order: The Singapore Sling done properly, or any of the current signatures
04
28 HongKong Street
Clarke Quay
$$$
Speakeasy / No-Menu
The bar that essentially launched Singapore's modern cocktail scene is still one of its best. No menu. Tell them what you want and they will deliver it better than the bar that invented it. The room is deliberately hard to find and the bartenders are consistently among the most knowledgeable in Asia.
Order: Describe your perfect cocktail and let them interpret it
The Singapore bar guide
From rooftop bars in Marina Bay to speakeasies in Chinatown, our full Singapore guide covers the city's best drinking spots.
Explore Singapore
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3. Hong Kong — Compressed, Intense, Unmissable
Hong Kong has the most per-square-metre bar density of any city in Asia, and the quality is high enough that the compression works in your favour. Central and Soho contain 40 worthwhile bars within walking distance of each other. A good night here does not require transport.
05
The Old Man
Central
$$$
Hemingway-Inspired / Literary
Named after Hemingway's novella and built around the life and work of the man himself, The Old Man was the first Hong Kong bar to make a serious global reputation. The cocktails are structured around the places Hemingway lived and drank. The Cuban Libre variation here is the best argument anyone has made for rum since Prohibition ended.
Order: Papa Doble or the current Hemingway-themed seasonal feature
06
Stockton
Central
$$$
Classic American / Jazz
An American bar in the best sense. Stockton runs a menu anchored in pre-Prohibition classics with a whisky list that rivals anything in New York or Edinburgh. The live jazz on Thursday through Saturday is the best in Hong Kong, and the negronis here have been a benchmark for the city for over a decade.
Order: Negroni or any aged American whisky highball
4. Bangkok and Osaka — The Rising Cities
Bangkok's bar scene has accelerated sharply in the past three years. Thonglor and Ekkamai now contain a cluster of cocktail bars that would make any comparable European neighbourhood pay attention. Osaka is Japan's best-kept bar secret, with a warm neighbourhood culture that Tokyo's formality sometimes lacks. For European comparison, our Oslo vs Stockholm vs Copenhagen bar scene comparison covers three northern cities that, like Asia's best, have built world-class drinking cultures within significant regulatory and pricing constraints.
07
Vesper
Silom, Bangkok
$$$
Thai-Influenced / Modern
Vesper put Bangkok on the global bar map with a menu that uses Thai ingredients as cocktail components rather than as decoration. Kaffir lime, tamarind, galangal, and nam pla are all in rotation. The results are unlike anything on any other continent. Book a week in advance for Friday or Saturday.
Order: Anything on the Thai Botanicals menu
08
Bar Nayuta
Namba, Osaka
$$$$
Counter Omakase / Intimate
Six seats at a counter. No menu. The bartender, who has been at this counter for 22 years, will ask three questions and proceed to make you one of the finest cocktails of your life. Osaka's bar culture runs warmer and more personal than Tokyo and Nayuta is the purest expression of that difference. Reservations only.
Order: There is no menu. Trust him completely.
Explore all Asian city guides
We cover Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Osaka, Bangkok, Bali, and more in full. Every category, every neighbourhood worth knowing.
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Our Verdict on the Best Asian Bar Cities
Tokyo is the best bar city in Asia on craft and consistency. Singapore is the best for a single great night out. Hong Kong is the best for sheer concentration of options in a small area. Bangkok is the best for what it will become. If you travel to Asia for bars specifically, go to Tokyo first, then take the train to Osaka. You will not need to go anywhere else. For a granular comparison across the four leading cocktail cities, read our dedicated feature on the best Asian city for cocktails.
What makes the Asian bar scene distinctive is the philosophy behind it. The best bartenders here are not trying to be famous. They are trying to be excellent at exactly one thing, for as long as it takes to master it. That attitude produces a different kind of bar from anything the West is building right now, and it produces it consistently.
Best cities bar scene USA: the American ranking
We ranked the best American cities for bar scenes using the same criteria. New York, New Orleans, Chicago, and more.
Read the US ranking
